SoulMate
by madworld27
Summary: Twelve year old, Cloud Strife, is bitten by a vampire when his curiosity leads him astray. Cloud must face the vampire world and find his soulmate(s) before he is hunted. After all, who would want to be experimented on by Hojo? ASGZC
1. Chapter 0: Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, items, places, etc. mentioned below

Nibelheim

In the small town of Nibelheim, there lived a boy named Cloud. He was estranged from everyone in the town, except his sick mother. Day after day, Cloud suffered neglect; his only escape being that of exploring the mountains near the town.

One day, while exploring a cave, Cloud came across a rusted metal door. Curious, Cloud tried opening the entry, only to find the door immovable. After several attempts at breaking open the door, Could picked up a rock and hit the hinges multiple times till they fell from the door. Finally, the door collapsed when Cloud ran shoulder first into the entry.

Upon entering the space beyond the door, Cloud was surrounded by darkness. Taking preparations was never a strong suit of the twelve year old Cloud, so when faced with this situation, instead of having a match on hand, Cloud felt the side of the cave and shuffled his feet. After a while, his eyes adjusted to the lack of light and Cloud found himself in what looked to be a room filled with coffins.

Now, Cloud may not have had as much knowledge as others due to his upbringing, but he knew that it was not customary to bury people in caves with locked doors. Thus, he felt safe in the assumption that the coffins had to be empty. Testing his theory, Cloud came over to the coffin located in the center of the room and nudged the top off. As he was working off the top, a hand shot out from the opening. Scared to death, all Cloud could do was gape at the appendage that had attached itself to his arm.

Slowly another hand slid out of the opening, only this "hand" was a golden claw like contraption. The hand-thing pushed the coffin lid off entirely causing a loud crash as the lid met the cave floor. Then, a man arose out of the coffin. Cloud knew right then that he was going to die and no one would ever know. For when Cloud looked at the man, he saw a vampire with pale skin, long black hair, glowing red eyes, and a cape soaked in crimson.

At first, the man didn't seem to notice he was clutching someone in his grasp. He seemed distracted by his surroundings. However his attention was soon drawn to Cloud when the boy struggled in hopes of escape. The man turned his solemn, red eyes on the child. Once the situation registered, the man looked as though he was about to let the boy go when suddenly a rumble was heard. With the need of hunger striking the man, an inner battle began causing the man's hand to continue to hold Cloud in place.

Within the man's mind, a demon fought for control. Finally after minutes of empty silence, Cloud noticed that the man's eyes had gone from red to a golden hue. The grip of the man tightened around Cloud's slim wrist, and the man sneered into the child's face.

"Well, well. What do we have here?"

Cloud did not dare to say a reply.

"Silent treatment, is it? That's not very nice, but then again what can be expected of an intruder dumb enough to enter this place."

The man tightened his grip, and Cloud managed a whimper of a reply.

"Please...let me go..."

"No. It's been ages since I've been able to get a snack."

With that said, the man brought the boy close to him and placed his mouth on the boy's throat. In less than a second, the man's hidden fangs dug deep into the tender flesh and he drank the child dry. Though the amount of blood possessed by the child could not quench the thirst completely, the lack of additional prey led to the man to regaining control. As his eyes regained their red glow, the man looked upon the dying boy who had virtually no more blood for survival. Not wanting another sin to add to his long list of regrets, the man bit his finger and placed five drops of blood into the child's mouth.

Next, the man cast a spell with the use of a black materia. All said and done, the man left his coffin to place the boy in it. Night passed into day and day passed into night, till finally, Cloud awoke to find himself in an open coffin with the creepy guy watching him from across the room.

"Hey...What's going on?"

"...Vincent..."

"...What?"

"The name is Vincent, and you have a lot to learn."


	2. Chapter 1: Welcome to the Club

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, items, places, etc. mentioned below

_Next, the man cast a spell with the use of a black materia. All said and done, the man left his coffin to place the boy in it. Night passed into day and day passed into night, till finally, Cloud awoke to find himself in an open coffin with the creepy guy watching him from across the room._

_"Hey...What's going on?"_

_"...Vincent..."_

_"...What?"_

_"The name is Vincent, and you have a lot to learn."_

Nibelheim Mansion

Vincent stared down at the child observing any and all reactions. At first, the child appeared catatonic, only staring straight ahead. However once his mouth opened, Vincent felt his responsibility double. Never one to chit chat, Vincent spoke only about the essentials. His name was the first word he directed at the boy. After introducing himself, the cavernous room filled with silence. After what felt like centuries of staring, the boy's mouth opened again.

"...I'm...Cloud... Are you a...vampire?"

"It's a long story, Cloud."

The way in which his words were spoken told Cloud that the subject was closed for discussion. Slowly, Cloud reached up and lifted himself out of the coffin. Once out, Cloud took notice of himself and his surroundings. He felt refreshed and extremely thirsty. In addition, it happened that the room appeared brighter. Deciding that he had nothing to lose, Cloud stepped up to Vincent.

"What happened? Last thing I remember is that you were in the coffin."

"Cloud...you have died."

Cloud took a step back. What did this guy mean he died? He was standing right in front of the man.

"That's not funny."

"Do I look like I'm laughing?"

"How can I be dead?...Unless..."

"Yes, I changed you. The human, Cloud, is dead."

Not one to be emotional, the boy took a deep breathe and sighed.

"Well...What do we do now?"

"...What?"

"You turned me into whatever you are, and you said I needed to learn, so where do you want to start?"

A rumble startled the two. Cloud blushed in realization as to where it came from. Meanwhile, Vincent let out a small chuckle.

"I guess we should start with hunting."

After hours of hunting wild animals in the Nibelheim mountains, Vincent and Cloud stood outside the front entrance to the Nibelheim Mansion. Slowly, the two entered the dusty wreck and looked around. They discovered a dusty couch and sat on it.

"Alright questions and answers time."

"What are we?"

"We are stage three vampires which means that we were turned by other vampires. Out of the varying types of vampires we are the weakest. Other types include type stage one: the purebred vampires, and stage two: the mixedbred vampires."

"What else should I know?"

"The vampire world is a secret. We kill or change any humans who know about us. There is a hierarchy of rule that places type one vampires above everyone. The agency that monitors our behavior is called Shinra. And, if you are caught doing anything deemed suspicious, a vampire group called the Turks will hunt you down and deliver you to a scientist, Hojo, who will experiment on you until he gets bored of you."

"...Okay..."

"Also, as a turned vampire, you will need to drink blood at least once everyday."

"Doesn't seem to bad."

"Did I I forget to mention that you must find your soulmate(s) within a century or you will turn to dust?"

"...What?!"

"Oh yeah, and you are illegally created so you have to hide else you'll be kidnapped by the Turks."

"You have got to be kidding."

"No. You'll find that I never joke around."

"This sucks."

"Welcome to the club."


	3. Chapter 2: Junon

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, items, places, etc. mentioned below

After accepting his situation, Cloud adjusted to his new life. At first, it was difficult living in the old mansion with a complete stranger. In fact there were some pretty awkward situations the two found themselves in. For instance, three days into the arrangement and Cloud discovered the man had no social skills, at all. Now, Cloud knew he was not one to talk when it came to social skills, but come on when you spend an entire day polishing your gun to avoid talking, you have some serious issues. So, always one to take up a challenge, Cloud found himself going out of his way to get to know the man and trying to get him to open up.

*sigh* "You know, Cloud, you are kind of annoying."

"Says the guy who can't keep his hands off his gun."

"..."

"That came out wrong."

"Yes. Yes, it did."

"You know what I mean."

"..."

The room drifted into silence, and Vincent went back to his polishing.

"I can't stand this anymore. I'm going out hunting."

"..."

Taking the silence as acceptance, Cloud dashed out the door and into the surrounding woods. Finally free from the stifling silence, Cloud decided to talk to himself.

"I swear if I spend too much time around that man, I will turn into some kind of sullen creep."

A sudden rustle of leaves and snap of a twig brought Cloud attention to his right side. After close inspection, Cloud found that he was not as alone as he first thought. Barely hidden behind a tree to his right, a girl stood gaping at him. The girl had long black hair and deep brown eyes. When she noticed that she had been caught, she turned away and took on an arrogant stance. Cloud recognized the girl. It was Tifa Lockhart, the mayor's daughter. Not feeling up for talking to the stuck up child, Cloud turned and started to walk away.

" Hey, where do you think you are going?"

"...None of your business."

"Is too! Everything in Nibelheim is my business."

"..."

"Your that little blonde brat that everyone dislikes right?"

"..."

"No fair. Don't ignore me!"

"...Shut up, and stop following me."

"No. I've decided that your going to be my Soldier."

"...Your...What?"

"You know like Sephiroth from the TV."

"...Yep. I have no idea what your saying."

" Come on his face is like everywhere..."

After looking at Cloud's clueless face, Tifa sighed.

"Anyway, he's this real powerful guy who lives in Midgar, and he's the general of a company called Shinra."

The name of the company caught Cloud's interest. Where had he heard it before? Oh, yeah. That's the place controlling the vampire community. Zoning back into the conversation, Cloud hoped to gain some information on the place.

"So, like I was saying I want you to be my Soldier and come running in to save the day whenever I'm in trouble."

"...Not interested."

"Why not?! It's perfect."

"...Look, I have my own problems, and I'm not up for dealing with yours, got it?"

"Your just being stupid. What kind of guy would refuse a request from a lady?"

"...I don't see any ladies here."

"Your so mean. If you don't become my Soldier, I'll beat you up and then tell my daddy on you."

"...What are you three?"

"No..I'm thirteen."

"Besides, I can't be your Soldier. Soldiers have training, right?"

Tifa nodded her head."

"Well, I don't have any training."

"You can get training."

"...It's not that easy."

"Yeah, it is. I heard on TV that Shinra is always looking for new recruits...Something about a war...I don't know. All I know is that you are going to be my Soldier."

"...I give up. I'm going home."

"Does that mean you agree?"

"Whatever just leave me alone."

"I'll take that as a yes."

With all that said and done, Tifa ran back in the direction of Nibelheim, and Cloud was left to his thoughts once more.

"..Why am I surrounded by weirdos?"

No one answered and Cloud went on his way. On his way back to the mansion, Cloud caught and drained two wolves. Upon entering his home, Cloud noticed Vincent in the exact position he had left him in.

"...I'm back."

"...Hn."

"I heard about Shinra today."

That caught Vincent's attention and he put his gun down.

"I heard that this guy named Sephiroth was their general and that they are looking for recruits."

"..."

"I was thinking that it might be easier to join the company rather than laying low out here."

"...No..."

"Why not?"

"They'll find out that you illegal and kill you, then me."

"Not if I trained and..."

"No."

"Your being unreasonable."

"..."

"Look, you said that I will die if I don't find my soulmate or mates, but I won't find them staying up on this mountain."

"..."

"..."

Each vampire stood staring down the other; neither backed down. Till finally, Vincent sighed.

"Fine, but you need serious training before we go anywhere near Midgar."

Picking up his guns, Vincent moved to go upstairs to his room.

"...Where you going?"

"To pack...Tomorrow, we head out to Junon."


End file.
